PDQDeployRunner Service

The PDQDeployRunner service is a Windows service that is executed on target computers in order to perform deployments. A service is used for this to allow the package to run "in the background" and not require a user to be logged into the computer and to not interrupt any user that is logged in. There are some limitations to running within a service.

Limitations

Services don't have access to a number of resources which will affect how they are used for deployments.

User Interface

Services can't have a user interface to allow users to respond to requests or provide input. Deployments that present an interface and wait for input (such as clicking on a button) will wait forever for input that will never come. This is the greatest cause of hanging deployments and must be avoided.

User-defined Resources

There are a number of resources on a computer which are defined per-user and as such aren't immediately accessible to a service. The most commonly requested are mapped drives and printers. If a user maps drives or installs printers those items aren't automatically available to all users so that the when the service logs in they will not be available. For a deployment to access these resources they must be created at the start of the deployment process. Likewise, creating these resources within the deployment will not make them available to other users of the computer.

Credentials and Security

This service is installed as needed on demand and is uninstalled when it is finished doing its work. It can run using either the account used for the deployment or using the Local System account depending on what type of network access is needed and the specific needs of the package in question.

As with all services the credentials used for it require the Log on as a service privilege.